“Fines are not enough. » Based on this bitter observation, the prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region announced this Monday that she was going to sanction around ten municipalities in the Lyon metropolis by the end of the year by withdrawing their town planning powers. . The reason ? They do not respect the SRU law requiring the construction of between 20 and 25% of social housing in their territories by 2025.
“They have really been below for years,” observes Fabienne Buccio. Not only is this rate not improving, it is getting worse. These mayors prefer to pay fines, sometimes substantial, and make no effort. »
Building permits issued by the State
If this decision is the result of “very serious reflection”, the prefect nevertheless accepts it, specifying that it is a first in her career. “We had to go to the end for the general interest. Housing is a priority. Setting an example does not seem pointless to me,” she continues at a time when the real estate market is becoming more and more tense.
Town planning is a competence delegated by the State to the municipalities “but the State can therefore decide to take it over if it considers that a municipality does not respect the law and therefore the general interest”, underlines Fabienne Buccio, refusing for time to give the names of the cities concerned. One of the consequences of this decision: the State “will go back to signing building permits”.